The Edict of Fontainebleau (October 1685) was an edict issued by Louis XIV of France, best known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes of 1598, which had granted to the Huguenots the right to worship their religion without persecution from the state.

Effects of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes

By this edict, the "Sun King" revoked the Edict of Nantes (1598) and ordered the destruction of Huguenot churches, as well as the closing of Protestant schools. This policy officialized the persecution already enforced since the dragonnades created in 1681 by the king in order to intimidate Huguenots into converting to Catholicism. As a result of the persecution by the dragons soldiers and the subsequent Edict of Fontainebleau, a large number of Protestants — estimates range from 200,000 to 500,000 — left France over the next two decades, seeking asylum in England, the United Provinces, Denmark, the Habsburg's Holy Roman Empire, South Africa and North America.^[1] On January 17th 1686, Louis XIV himself claimed that out of a Huguenot population of 800,000 to 900,000, only 1,000 to 1,500 had remained in France.

Louis XIV's pious second wife Madame de Maintenon was a strong advocate of Protestant persecution and urged Louis to revoke Henri IV's edict; her confessor and spiritual adviser, François de la Chaise must be held largely responsible.

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes created a state of affairs in France similar to that of virtually every other European country of the period, where only the majority state religion was tolerated. The experiment of religious toleration in Europe was effectively ended for the time being. In practice, the revocation caused France to suffer a kind of early brain drain, as it lost a large number of skilled craftsmen, including key designers such as Daniel Marot. Upon leaving France, Huguenots took with them knowledge of important techniques and styles — which had a significant effect on the quality of the silk, plate glass, silversmithing (see: Huguenot silver), and cabinet making industries of those regions to which they relocated. Some rulers, such as Frederick Wilhelm of Brandenburg, who issued the Edict of Potsdam, encouraged the Protestants to seek refuge in their nations.

The Edict of Fontainebleau is compared by many historians with the 1492 Alhambra Decree, ordering the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain. The two are similar both as an outburst of extreme religious intolerance where there was relative tolerance before, and because the social and economic effects of the Alhambra Decree in Spain were similar to the above-mentioned effects in France.

French Revolution and the Huguenots' descendants

The December 15, 1790 Law stated that : 'All persons born in a foreign country and descending in any degree of a French man or woman expatriated for religious reason are declared French nationals (naturels français) and will benefit to rights attached to that quality if they come back to France, establish their domicile there and take the civic oath.'

Article 4 of the June 26, 1889 Nationality Law stated that: 'Descendants of families proscribed by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes will continue to benefit from the December 15, 1790 Law, but on the condition that a nominal decree should be issued for every petitioner. That decree will only produce its effects for the future.'

Huguenots' descendants lost the right to French citizenship in 1945 (by force of the ordonnance du 19 octobre 1945, revoking the 1889 Nationality Law .

References

See also

• 1702 Camisard rebellion in the Cevennes
• French Wars of Religion
• Religions in France
• Edict of Potsdam